Lambert won’t vote to put tax on ballot; is measure doomed?

King County Councilwoman Kathy Lambert says she won’t vote to put a 0.2 percent sales tax increase — intended to pay for law enforcement and courts — on the August ballot.

She issued a statement Friday that said, in part:

With these challenging economic times come challenging decisions. Unemployment is over 9 percent and like many of you, I have family members and many friends who are without employment. We should not increase taxes on individuals and businesses until we have had the tough conversations about labor contract concessions, lowering other taxes to offset a criminal justice tax, looking for new business models to create efficiencies, and engaging our taxpayers in a discussion about what services they expect and how they want to pay for them.

The council will vote on the measure on Monday, but it’s chances of passing aren’t looking good.